Wednesday, January 31, 2007

These are not predictions, just my own personal musings on each film.BABELFor it: Babel, more so than any other film in this race, speaks specifically of our time. It is a film of our time, about our time - perfectly realizing our anxieties and fears, and the complexities of life in a globalized world.

Against it: It is timeless? Perhaps not. But one day film historians will look back on this and see it as a statement of life on earth in the early part of the 21st century. But it may not ring true to future audiences. This is a movie for the here and now.

THE DEPARTEDFor it: Martin Scorsese again demonstrates why he is a master with this explosively entertaining mob thriller. It is a master class in filmmaking, an intricate thriller with a keen eye for form and content, as well as crackerjack storytelling. It's the most outright entertaining of the nominees.

Against it: The abrupt blood bath ending seems like a bit of a cop-out. And it's not as emotionally engaging as Babel or Letters from Iwo Jima.

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMAFor it: A quitessintially American director tackles a distinctly Eastern tale of doomed Japanese soldiers coming to terms with their fate while defending Iwo Jima to the death during WWII. It's the completion of Clint Eastwood's staggering Iwo Jima saga, which began with Flags of Our Fathers, and is a monumental, elegiac achievement of great emotional depth.

Against it:Flags was the stronger, more complex film (in my opinion, anyway). And it may have opened too late in the game.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINEFor it: Irrepressibly plucky and almost impossible not to like, Little Miss Sunshine is an endearing and sweet little comedy.

Against it: It's an endearing and sweet little comedy. A trifle that has does not belong among the five best films of the year while more important films go unnominated.

THE QUEENFor it: Stephen Frears' stately "what if?" peek into the lives of the British Royal Family is a solid, finely crafted film. It's hard to say anything bad about it. This is world-class filmmaking, and the only nominee that pretty much EVERYONE respects.

Against it: But the key word is "respects," not "loves." Is it too understated? Helen Mirren is getting all the attention for her stunning performance. It's a very good film, but not the Best Picture of the Year. A nomination is all it really deserves.

I still haven't decided if I'm pulling for Babel or Letters from Iwo Jima. I also haven't finalized my predictions, I think I have it narrowed down to two though. Keep checking back.

Abigail says she was asleep when the Oscar nominations were announced. "My mom and my brother came in and they were screaming and they woke me up," Abigail says. As far as what she is going to wear to the awards, Abigail says she has no idea. "My favorite color is red," she says.

Even though she doesn't know exactly what her dress will look like on Oscar night, she does know who she is going to bring to the awards. "Well, I'm not old enough to date yet…so my parents and my Curious George," she says.

How ridiculously cute is this girl? She had cookies on her purse at the Golden Globes. Cookies!

You know I wouldn't mind seeing her take home the award. She's just impossible not to like. Plus she's great in the film - she was so natural.

"Why on earth does the Academy insist on wasting a nomination on a child (especially her first performance), who, for the most part, has a more easier time on camera than an adult does? It’s insulting to those adult actors who have spent years learning to do what a child does naturally. This is what winning an Oscar is about. So, in my opinion, nominating a child defies everything a person in this business works for. " - filmmaker/actress

Well first off, Little Miss Sunshine was not Abigail Breslin's first performance. She has shown great growth since Signs. If you want to criticize make sure you have your facts straight first. And "more easier?" Are you serious? You obviously have no talent yourself, otherwise you wouldn't be bitching about an extremely talented little girl getting a much deserved award nomination. I think you're just jealous and bitter that a child is more talented than you. What makes your "talent" more valid than her's? Finding a great child actor is a rare thing, and Abigail Breslin is the best thing to come along since Dakota Fanning. Winning an Oscar is about more than spending years in training - it's about delivering a great performance. And Breslin did just that. How many other kids do you know that could pull of doing a strip dance to "Super Freak" at nine years old?

"Forrest Whitaker is a fine actor, but I must say I would not go to see a movie about Idi Amin no matter the inducement. " - Variety subscriber

Your loss.

"I would love to see Jennifer Hudson to win because it shows that either you have IT or you don't. She's pretty and has not gone to professional acting classes trying to learn how to act. She's a natural." -Variety subscriber

I wouldn't call her a natural. She has an amazing voice but her acting is a bit rusty. It's obvious she is not a trained actress. I still think she deserves the award though.

"I'll just say it and go down in flames: I think "Little Miss Sunshine" is overrated and am scared to death it will win." -Variety subscriber

You and me both. It's a sweet little trifle that has no business in the top 5, especially when a future classic like Children of Men is snubbed.

"I don't care that "Dreamgirls" isn't a best pic nominee, but how did "The Queen" get in there?" - Variety subscriber

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

With previews for Norbit, Murphy's latest multi-character makeup comedy currently making the rounds at multiplexes and on TV, could this remind Academy members that they are about to give an Oscar to Dr. Dolittle? Yes he's good, but seeing those ads might make them think twice. He is, after all, the most vulnerable of the acting race frontrunners.

The Academy has decided which three producers of "Little Miss Sunshine" are Oscar contenders, while rejecting the request of Paramount Pictures chairman Brad Grey to be added to the Acad's producer credits on Warner Bros.' "The Departed."

The trio for "Little Miss Sunshine" are David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub. Also receiving onscreen credit are Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. Acad rules state that only three producers are eligible.

About 20 producers who sit on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' executive committee made the decision Thursday night, naming Graham King at the only producer of "Departed."

The Producers Guild of America had earlier denied Grey credit on the pic. The Academy uses PGA decisions as a guideline, but reviews the ruling if the guild decision is contested.

On Jan. 21, all five "Sunshine" producers were given the PGA award because the guild does not limit the number of producers.

So due to the Academy's ridiculously specific rules (anyone wanna talk about the insane foreign language film rules?), the two producers who got Sunshine started have been disqualified, and if it goes on to win the big award, they will not recieve statuettes.

Is it just me or is that supremely unfair? Academy representatives said that they turn to the PGA to determine nominees, and the PGA recognized 5 producers, 2 more than the Academy's limit.

They need an appeals system, those two deserve to be recognized just as much as the other three.

Friday, January 26, 2007

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Frosty Hardiman is neither impressed nor surprised that "An Inconvenient Truth," the global warming movie narrated by former vice president Al Gore, received an Oscar nomination this week for best documentary.

"Liberal left is all over Hollywood," he grumbled a few hours after the nomination was announced.

Hardiman, a parent of seven in the southern suburbs of Seattle, has roiled the global-warming waters.

It happened early this month when he learned that one of his daughters would be watching "An Inconvenient Truth" in her seventh-grade science class.

"No, you will not teach or show that propagandist Al Gore video to my child, blaming our nation -- the greatest nation ever to exist on this planet -- for global warming," Hardiman wrote in an e-mail to the Federal Way School Board.

The 43-year-old computer consultant is an evangelical Christian who said he believes that a warming planet is "one of the signs" of Jesus Christ's imminent return for Judgment Day.

His angry e-mail, along with complaints from a few other parents, stopped the film from being shown.

The teacher in that science class, Kay Walls, said that after Hardiman's e-mail her principal told her she would receive a disciplinary letter for not following school board rules that require her to seek written permission to present "controversial" materials in class.

I'm sorry, but can people get any more stupid? Stuff like this is what's wrong with this country. I finally saw Jesus Camp the other night, and it shows a mother telling her child that global warming is a lie made up by non-Christians. What on earth has that got to do with Christianity and the Bible?

Unbelievable! Not once do they even mention the racial divide between the young black gals up on screen and the old white guys in the audience — guys who failed (or refused) to project themselves into the heads of Effie & galpals. I'm not talking racial prejudice here. I'm talking a failure to empathize.

As David Carr said in the New York Times, "Dreamgirls" was a "tough sell to begin with among white males, a demographic that describes the majority of the academy's 5,800 voting members."

There — David nailed it. But nowhere in their chat do Patrick and John even discuss race as a possible factor.

Ugh! There he goes again...just because his precious Dreamgirls wasn't deemed among the 5 best films of the year, he goes off crying racism. In the year of the most ethnically diverse Oscar nominations ever. Yes, ever.

He then goes on to say:

They failed to do their jobs as film pros. Why? Because they're stubborn old guys — just like grandpa.

What? I would love to know where this is coming from. It reeks of bitterness.

Academy: Dreamgirls is a good movie, we give it 8 nominations. But it's not one of the 5 best of the year.O'Neill: Oh yeah? Well you're a racist.

I loved Dreamgirls, I was swept up in the story and the music, but it is not one of the five best films of the year. Just because it's full of flash and pizazz does not mean it should be a Best Picture contender. End of story.

Does he think that Letters from Iwo Jima, the film which took Dreamgirls' slot, should have been snubbed instead? A brave, powerful, and yes, important film that examines a famous battle from the other side?

I'm sorry. Dreamgirls was a very good film. But it was typical Oscar bait. And this year Oscar chose to honor the films that deserved it, not the ones who shamelessly pursued it.

If you want to complain about something getting snubbed, complain about Children of Men. That's a film that will be taught in film classes for decades to come. Dreamgirls? Not so much.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

With 2006 being the most wide-open Oscar race in years, I think it's prudent to take a look at the race category by category to help decide who will take Best Picture, since at this point it's literally anybody's game.

I don't think the Best Picture winner will win more than 4 awards, if that (which isn't much of a stretch considering two nominees are only nominated for four - but neither one of those will win all their nominations). And it is more likely that it will only win 3 or less. The only film with a real chance to win more is Babel, which COULD win 5 (Picture, Screenplay, Supp. Actress, Score, Editing), but I doubt it. If Little Miss Sunshine takes Best Picture, it will do so with a maximum of 3 awards (unless the Academy goes ape for it and awards Abigail Breslin Best Supporting Actress, but again I doubt it), winning Picture and Screenplay, and MAYBE Supporting Actor. The little bus that could has a real shot at being this year's Cinderella story and taking home the gold, but I think it will have to settle for Best Original Screenplay.

The Departed could win Picture, Director, Screenplay and Editing. With editing such an important category when it comes to predicting Best Picture winners, that leaves it between Babel and The Departed. If either of those wins it could be an early indicator of a Best Picture win. If, however, the award goes to a non-Best Pic nominee, then we're back at square one. As for Martin Scorsese, I can't really envision a scenario where he doesn't win, even if The Departed doesn't win Best Pic. Unless the Academy decides to award Clint Eastwood for his double achievement of Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, which I highly doubt they will do because letting Clint beat Marty again would just be beyond cruel. The only other real challenger to Scorsese is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who could win if Babel sweeps. But again, this award is Marty's to lose.

I could see a scenario where Letters takes home Best Pic while Departed wins Best Director, but if that's the case it could be the first time since Mutiny on the Bounty in 1935 that a film has won Best Picture and no other awards - since Sunshine will probably win Screenplay, and Departed Director. It could always pick up Sound Editing as a small throwaway prize, but I see that award going somewhere else. But you never know. Letters has a bit of a Munich vibe to me - the well respected, deadly serious masterpiece made by a beloved auteur that is just lucky to be nominated, and won't win anything.

As for The Queen, well, I think it's more of a threat than people realize. It's the only Best Picture nominee with across the board respect and admiration. No one has anything bad to say about it. Helen Mirren will win Best Actress, no question. But if it takes home Best Score, it might end up going all the way with a three win tally for Best Picture. It may be the only result that leaves everyone satisfied.

If I had a vote, it would go to Letters from Iwo Jima, followed closely by Babel. Eastwood's film represents half of one of the greatest filmmaking achievements of the last 20 years, while Babel is the most intricate and complex of the nominees. Both films generate empathy for other cultures, forcing us to see the world from the point of view of those who are different from us.

But the real point here, is that any one of these films, with the exception of Little Miss Sunshine, is a worthy Best Picture winner. And even Sunshine has that hard-won underdog glory vibe to it. This is anybody's game. Which makes my job of Oscar prognostication extremely hard.

Maybe things will become clearer as the season wears on. Perhaps this Saturday's SAG awards will help to narrow the race.

Either way, we are in for one of the most unpredicable Oscar ceremonies ever. And that only makes things more fun.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I think I am quite possibly looking forward to this more than any other film of 2007. And it has one of the best posters I have ever seen:

Directed by Hustle & Flow (a film I was admittedly not impressed with)helmer Craig Brewster, Black Snake Moan stars Samuel L. Jackson as a simple, God-fearing man living in the backwoods South, who comes across a self-destructive nymphomaniac (Christina Ricci), and decides to chain her into his house until he can cure her of her behavior.

The poster and premise have gritty exploitation written all over it, but with such a knowing wink that any hint of sexism is dispelled. Check out the trailer:

In a surprisingly glowing review in the latest issue of Film Comment, Nathan Lee says:

Black Snake Moan sings the blues—hard, long, from the bottom of the gut, slushing around in bile and Jack Daniels and yesterday’s grits, wailing on a slide guitar, thunder, lightning, heartbreak, death, regret, baby Jesus, gravy. Life hurts bad, and Brewer doesn’t shy from real suffering. Snarky retro camp has nothing to do with it. There’s no condescension here. Rae’s road back to something like self-control is hard won, fraught with slippage, as serious and persuasive as the journey of L’Enfant. Brewer’s recipe is solid: home-cooked meals, hothouse blues, God’s love, patience. Ricci’s performance is so fearless, specific, and blazingly committed it carries the second half of the picture over the slight underwriting of Jackson’s character and his clear limitations as an actor. She’s the white-hot focal point of Brewer’s loud, brash, encompassing vision of the soul’s dark night survived, peering into the dawn. That’s right, haters, I said “vision.” And one so honest and healthy and against the grain of indie solipsism and Hollywood cynicism that it’s just about visionary.

That is high praise indeed, especially from a high brow cineaste magazine like Film Comment. I can only hope the film lives up to my expectations at this point.

The Envelope has compiled a list of great films that were not nominated for Best Picture in an attempt to place Dreamgirls in their company:

"The African Queen""Being John Malkovich""Being There""The Big Sleep" "Breakfast at Tiffany's""Bringing Up Baby""Carrie""Charade""City Lights""Close Encounters of the Third Kind""Easy Rider""8 1/2""The Empire Strikes Back""Gods and Monsters""His Girl Friday""Inherit the Wind""Intruder in the Dust""King Kong""The Lady Eve""The Manchurian Candidate""Manhattan""Mean Streets""Meet Me in St. Louis""The Miracle of Morgan's Creek""Modern Times""A Night at the Opera""North by Northwest" "Notorious""The Producers" (1968)"Psycho""Rear Window""Rebel without a Cause""Rosemary's Baby""Sabrina""The Searchers""Serpico""Shadow of a Doubt""Singing in the Rain""Snow White""Some Like It Hot""Strangers on a Train""Sullivan's Travels""Sweet Smell of Success""Thelma and Louise""The Third Man""Touch of Evil""Toy Story""2001: A Space Odyssey""Vertigo""The Wild Bunch"

Are they really putting Dreamgirls in the company of 2001, Psycho, Vertigo, and 8 1/2? They can't be serious. No matter how you spin it, Dreamgirls is nothing more than an entertaining, rousing musical extravaganza. But is it on the level of Singin' in the Rain or Busby Berekely's Footlight Parade, or even for that matter, Moulin Rouge? No. If you want to start putting a 2006 film in the pantheon, the only one that really deserves such immediate classic recognition is Children of Men, and perhaps Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima films. Time will tell about the others (although I could see Pan's Labyrinth being remembered for years to come).

Yes Dreamgirls was a surprising snub, but to compare it to a brilliant, timeless masterpiece like 2001: A Space Odyessey is just reckless. I guess that's what separates Oscar pundits and serious film critics and historians. They mistake Dreamgirls for classic, groundbreaking material when it is really nothing more than a well made, entertaining crowd pleaser that doesn't really cover any ground we haven't seen before.

It didn't get nominated. It's time to move on and focus on the ones that did. There are some damn good films in that Best Picture list this year.

Maybe its harrowing portrait of a dystopian future was more than Academy voters could bear. Maybe its late release date and the truncated Oscar calendar combined to work against it. Either way, the omission of Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men from the list of this year's Best Picture nominees is one that film historians and fans alike will almost certainly look back on with befuddlement. Children of Men is the rarest of films — it's a nail-biting adventure that follows an expectant mother (Claire Hope Ashitey) and her skeptical guardian (Clive Owen) in a race against time; a subtle commentary on global politics; and a gut-wrenching vision of a world without children, without hope. In much the same way the film haunts viewers days, even weeks, after seeing it, we suspect the specter of its snub will haunt the Oscars telecast come Feb. 25. —Michael Slezak

I couldn't have said it better myself. Not nominating Children of Men may not be a surprise right now because of its weak campaign, but down the road, not nominating the best film of the decade will be a shame the Academy may not live down - akin to not giving Citizen Kane Best Picture. It will be seen as a sign of the climate at the time, sure, and the late start in the gold derby didn't help. But ignoring COM is one of their greatest injustices.

With his eighth acting nom, for "Venus," Peter O'Toole is a winner either way. If he wins, great; if not, he goes down in the record books as the actor with the most noms without a win (he was previously tied with Richard Burton).

With her 14th nom, Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") furthers her lead for most nominated actor ever. Runners-up are Jack Nicholson and Katharine Hepburn, with 12 apiece. Kevin O'Connell, nommed for sound mixing in "Apocalypto," scores his 19th nom. He furthers his status as the Academy's most nominated individual who, so far, hasn't won. Distant runners-up are composer Alex North and art director Roland Anderson, at 15 each.

"Dreamgirls" is the first live-action film to have three of its songs nominated. Two animated films can lay claim to the same record: "The Lion King" in 1994 and "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991.

"I Need to Wake Up" from "An Inconvenient Truth" is the first song from a docu to be nominated since "More" from "Mondo Cane" was up for the award in 1963.

Alan Arkin has gone 38 years since his last nom --1968's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" -- the same amount of time Jack Palance spent between "Shane" in 1953 and "City Slickers" in 1991. Henry Fonda is still the title holder at 41 years between acting noms.

With "Little Children," Kate Winslet, 31, becomes the youngest actress to garner five noms. She has made 19 movies. Previous record holder was Olivia de Haviland, who secured her fifth at the age of 33. By that time -- 1950 -- she had made 33 films.

Ten-year-old Abigail Breslin, should she win the supporting actress trophy, will tie Tatum O'Neal as the youngest Oscar winner. O'Neal, however, at the time of her win at the 1974 ceremony, was six months younger than Breslin will be in February.

The more stunning fact is that it got 8 nominations, a major number for a non best picture nominee (trailing only They Shoot Horses Don't They and tying Poseidon Adventure, Close Encounters and Ragtime). It leads the pack. I say again: IT LEADS THE PACK. Horses was beaten by Anne of the Thousand Days, Poseidon by Cabaret and the Godfather, Close Encounters by Julia, Turning Point and Star Wars, and Ragtime by Reds and On Golden Pond.

No film had ever had the most nominations in a year and failed to get a Best Picture nomination. Obviously this is a historic year, as I have pointed out on the boards. It is the fewest combined nominations by the 5 Best Picture nominations since they went to 5 nominees back in 1944. It is the first time since the Oscars inception year of 27-28 that no Best Picture nominee has a Best Actor nominee (the other sure bet I had been telling people is that Leo would be nominated for the Departed for that very reason). How bizarre is this? Unless Babel wins, we're looking at a Best Picture winner with fewer than 7 nominations.

Two historic years back to back. Culturally significant future classic Brokeback Mountain gets upset by well-liked ensemble piece Crash was like How Green Was My Valley beating Citizen Kane in 1941, or Shakespeare in Love beating Saving Private Ryan in 1998 (although Shakespeare is a more worthy film than Crash).

But this...this is unprecedented. A welcome precedent, to be sure (I liked Dreamgirls, but didn't think it was Best Picture material - ditto for Little Miss Sunshine), but definitely unexpected and significant.

Does this mean that the Academy is turning over a new leaf? Letters from Iwo Jima is without a doubt the better film - a bold and daring work of art. And I doubt that you will find anyone who disagrees outside of Dreamgirls' rabid fanbase. Could it be that the Academy is beginning to recognize worthy films over popular choices?

Dreamgirls seemed to have Oscar written all over it. It was a successful, glitzy Broadway adaptation filled with excellent craftsmanship and plenty of glitz and glamour. But they passed it over in lieu of a grim and somber subtitled American war film that portrays a historic battle from the viewpoint of the "enemy." Sure it was directed by Oscar favorite Clint Eastwood, but that is a daring move for the Academy.

It's probably not the start of a new trend, at least not a sudden one. They made the right choice this time, but they will fall for the razzle-dazzle again. I'm just glad to see a worthy effort make the top 5 over a popular but unworthy frontrunner.

Now if they would have only remembered Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth...

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Well I said I hoped that Oscar provided us with some surprises - and they really came through this time. There weren't that many, but the ones that did were HUGE.

First off, the obvious snub for Golden Globe champ Dreamgirls in the Best Picture and Best Director categories, while still managing to garner the most nominations (thanks it's 3 Best Song noms). I had a feeling Letters from Iwo Jima would sneak in, but I was expecting it to knocl Little Miss Sunshine out of the race instead of the pre-ordained frontrunner since before the nomination race began.

Then, Pedro Almodovar's Volver failed to make the Best Foreign Language Film cut, the nod insead going Denmark's After the Wedding or Canada's Water, depending on which you were predicting (I went with Water).

In another shocker, Leonardo DiCaprio got nominated for Best Actor for Blood Diamond (which got 5 nominations) instead of The Departed, while Jack Nicholson got passed over for a nod in lieu of co-star Mark Wahlberg.

I was hoping that todays nominations would shed some light on who may end up taking home the gold on February 25. But no, it's only helped to muddy the waters. This is literally anybody's race, the most wide-open in years. They clearly love Babel, but Sunshine got two acting nods, indicating support but not enough to get a Best Director nod. The Departed got snubbed in two major categories (although in Supporting Actor it was made up for by a surprise showing of Wahlberg). And the unexpected (by some) success of Letters indicates that has more support than we thought.

Things may become more clear as awards night approaches. But right now, welcome to the most unprecitable Oscar race in recent memory (but Helen Mirren is still going to win for The Queen).

I'm sorry, but do people really think this shit is funny? Seeing dreck like this passed off as entertainment (and the people who eagerly lap it up), always makes me despair for humanity (not to mention the art of film).

Monday, January 22, 2007

With the Oscar nominations being announced in the morning, I wanted to do one last column about the state of the race.

The generally touted "Big Five," Babel,The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen are being proclaimed invincible. But I wouldn't be so sure. First off, LMS, while charming, funny, and exceptionally well made - it has no place among the top five films of the year. Period.

While my pick to replace it would be Children of Men (the most jaw-dropping, affecting, groundbreaking, and in my opinion, the best film of the year), I know it's a long-shot. It opened too late and it's campaign never fired into high gear - and its bleak apocalyptic vision didn't exactly have them turning up in droves.

And while Notes on a Scandal is probably my favorite film of the year, it's chances outside of the acting and writing races are pretty much zero.

So I want to make the case for Guillermo Del Toro's haunting gothic fantasy, Pan's Labyrinth.

Pan's Labyrinth is the kind of film that deserves to be recognized. It's the kind of film I think can be easily embraced. In fact if it were given a bigger marketing push I think that Picturehouse would have a huge crossover mainstream hit on their hands. Pan's is the most imaginative film of the year, and Del Toro should be recognized in the Best Director category as well...instead of Bill Condon, perhaps?

And for some reason, I feel that if enough of the Academy has seen Pan's, that they will fall all over themselves for it. It's clearly well loved in Hollywood, and will probably go on to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, but wouldn't it be something to elevate it to the top 5, making it the first foreign language film nominated for Best Picture since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? It's fans are passionate - and sometimes that's all it takes to get nominated.

This has the potential to be their darling - and as the pinnacle of world cinema this year, it should be recognized.

I can see it happening. But sadly the chances probably aren't that good. Wouldn't it be great though to wake up tomorrow morning and hear Pan's Labyrinth called out as a Best Picture nominee?

Letters from Iwo Jima is generally considered to be the only film that can break into the top five. And that would be fine with me, I want Eastwood's achievement to be recognized, even if I would rather it be for Flags of Our Fathers, prettymuch anything besides Little Miss Sunshine would make me happy at this point.

We'll all know tomorrow morning, the mystery dispelled, and we can finally get down to the business of predicting the winners. With such a wide-open race this year, I'm hoping for some surprises tomorrow. How did such a wide-open year become so predictable?

Any honest Academy member will admit that Oscar voters are dealing with slim pickings for 2006. But at the other end of the quality scale, voters for this year's 27th Annual RAZZIE® Awards had literally dozens of deserving contenders to choose from. And choose they have…and RAZZ the nominees they will, in ceremonies to be held at 7:30pm/PST on Oscar eve, Saturday, February 24 at Hollywood's Ivar Theatre.

Heading the dis-honor roll of Worst Achievements in Film this year are a lascivious murder mystery that turned out to be a laugh riot, and a comedy nearly as devoid of laughs as SCHINDLER'S LIST: Sharon Stone as a "femme fatale" The L.A. Times called "footloose and panty-free" in BASIC INSTINCT 2 and Shawn and Marlon Wayans in their brother Keenan Ivory Wayans' blatant knock-off of a 1954 Bugs Bunny cartoon, LITTLE MAN. Each racked up 7 shots at the spray-painted gold statuettes no one in Hollywood really wants to "win." Joining these films in the final circle as Worst Picture nominees are M. Night Shyamalan's brain dead bedtime story (and box office dud) LADY IN THE WATER, Oscar winner Nicolas Cage donning an unconvincing bear suit in the laugh-out-loud funny remake of the Australian thriller WICKER MAN, and a film helmed by the man many Internet users consider the worst director alive today, Uwe Boll's BLOODRAYNE.

BEST ACTORSacha Baron Cohen, BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTANLeonardo DiCaprio, THE DEPARTEDPeter O'Toole, VENUSKen Watanabe, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMAForest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

'Little Miss Sunshine' was the surprise winner at the PGA Awards. In an unpredictable turn in the wide-open awards season, the Producers Guild of America has tapped offbeat family comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" as winner of its top feature film award over "Babel," "The Departed," "Dreamgirls" and "The Queen."

The PGA, based on voting by its 3,300 members, gave its Darryl F. Zanuck trophy to "Sunshine" producers Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa in ceremonies Saturday night at the Century Plaza. The award, presented by Tom Cruise, was only the second comedy ever chosen by the PGA, joining "Forrest Gump."

With a $12 million price tag, "Sunshine" was the lowest-cost of the nominees for the PGA award. Fox Searchlight acquired the pic -- starring Alan Arkin, Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Abigail Van Breslin, Steve Carrell and Paul Dano as a dysfunctional family -- at last year's Sundance Film Festival.

In his acceptance speech, Turtletaub singled out Michael Arndt's screenplay and said the key scene in making him decide to back the project came when he read about the grandfather advising his grandson to have sex with a lot of women -- "I mean, like a thousand."

"Thank you Michael," he added. "Without your wonderful screenplay, with equal parts of humor, heart and wisdom, none of us would be here tonight."

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Looking to reform and demystify the ratings system, the MPAA and National Assn. of Theater Owners are planning a series of changes, including a new admonishment to parents that certain R-rated movies aren't suitable for younger kids, period.

Another key change: For the first time, a filmmaker will be able to cite another movie when waging an appeal.

Along with specific rule revisions, the campaign to make the ratings process more user-friendly and transparent for parents and filmmakers includes an extensive outreach and education program.

Campaign officially kicks off Monday at the Sundance Film Fest when MPAA topper Dan Glickman and Joan Graves, chair of the Classification & Rating Administration, will meet with indie filmmakers, producers and specialty arm execs to go over the alterations. (CARA is operated by the MPAA, which reps the major studios, and NATO.)

Reforms include:

For the first time, CARA will post the ratings rules on the MPAA Web site, describing the standards for each rating. The ratings and appeal processes also will be described in detail, along with a link to paperwork needed to submit a film for a rating.

Most members of the ratings board will remain anonymous, although CARA will describe the demographic make-up of the board, which is composed of parents. The names of the three senior raters have always been public; now, they will be posted online.

A filmmaker who appeals a rating can reference similar scenes in other movies, although the appeals board still will focus heavily on context.

CARA will formalize its rule that a member of the ratings board doesn't stay on the board after his or her children are grown.

CARA also will formalize its educational training system for raters.

When the CARA rules are implemented later this year, the MPAA and NATO will designate additional members to the appeals board who don't come from the MPAA or NATO fold. (Indie filmmakers might be one possibility.)

NATO and MPAA will occasionally be able to designate additional observers from different backgrounds to the appeals board.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

In a recent entry in his Goldderby blog, Tom O'Neill claimed that Helen Mirren's Oscar crown is now shaky because of her Golden Globes speech.

Huh? Is he serious? Mirren was regal as always. She has had this award in the bag since before the season begun. There is no way she can lose at this point. To think that the voters wouldn't vote for her because of her Globes acceptance speech is just absurd. She remains the undisputed frontrunner of the race. Yes Meryl Streep had a great speech, but to say that voters would switch their vote to her because of her speech is, well, underestimating them. Mirren will be crowned queen of the Kodak theatre on February 25th. If the Academy doesn't recognize her they will come off looking like idiots, as the ONLY voting body not to do so. And I think they know that. They cannot ignore the single best performance of the year, and one that has a universal consensus behind it.

Her throne isn't shaky. It's as strong as ever. And her win last night only cemented her victory.

There are still some films I have yet to see...but I can't wait any longer, especially since this was published last week. Here it is, my picks for the ten best films of 2006:

1CHILDREN OF MEN

D: Alfonso Cuarón; S: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine; RStands the greatest chance of any film this year of one day being regarded as a classic. A breathtaking masterpiece from start to finish that evokes the works of Welles, Kubrick, and Godard in its dark, dystopian vision of a not-too-distant future, where the one hope for humanity is a lone, pregnant young girl in a world full of infertile women. It is quite simply the best film of this seven year old decade.

2FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

D: Clint Eastwood; S: Ryan Phillippe, Adam Beach, Jesse Bradford; RClint Eastwood's powerful war drama examines not just the battle of Iwo Jima and its effect on three men, but the very idea of heroism and how they are shamelessly exploited to drum up support by those in power.

3THE GOOD SHEPHERD

D: Robert DeNiro, S: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Robert DeNiro; RThe 70s are alive and well in this intricately plotted thriller about the birth of the CIA. Robert DeNiro directs with a stylistic flair that comes straight from the decade that gave him prominance.

D: John Cameron Mitchell; S: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson; Not RatedJohn Cameron Mitchell's exuberant celebration of sex in all its forms is not only the most sexually explicit non-porn film of all time, but it is also the most essential film about sexuality since Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris.

D: Martin Scorsese; S: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson; RMartin Scorsese returns to form in this slam bang thriller about two moles desperately trying to uncover each other's identity. Unmistakably the work of a master working at the top of his game.

8THE QUEEN

D: Stephen Frears; S: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen; PG-13Helen Mirren delivers the performance of the year in this razor-sharp drawing room satire about the reaction of the royal family in the week following the death of Princess Diana.

9MARIE ANTOINETTE

D: Sofia Coppola; S: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman; PG-13Sofia Coppola's woefully misunderstood, impressionistic take on the infamous French queen is a dreamy, delicious truffle of a film that thinks with its heart instead of its head.

10BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN

D: Larry Charles, S: Sacha Baron Cohen; RSide-splittingly funny mockumentary about a clueless Kazakhstani journalist (Sacha Baron Cohen), who goads unwitting subjects into demonstrating not only America's deep seeding prejudices, but its surprising patience as well. A brilliantly scalding satire, and one of the most original comedies in years.

HONORABLE MENTIONSThe powerful German Holocaust drama Sophie Scholl - The Final DaysThe dazzling, disco-era, R&B musical, DreamgirlsThe delightful hit comedy Little Miss SunshineThe best horror film in years, The DescentThe shocking documentary, Why We FightRobert Altman's elegiac swansong, A Prairie Home CompanionDeepa Mehta's daring and controversial expose of the treatment of widows in India under Hindu law, Water

Now that the Golden Globes have weighed in, it is looking like the final five for the Best Picture Oscar will be Babel, The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen.Five fine films to be sure...but Little Miss Sunshine? Really? It's a smart, funny film. But best of the year? No. Not by a longshot. It's too cute and lightweight for the top prize. I would like to see Clint Eastwood recognized for his double-whammy achievement of Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.Letters is the more likely candidate. And the Academy LOVES Clint. I still don't think they will let him go un-nominated.

And I want to be the first to point out something. Each one of those films has a pretty rabid fanbase. But they also have very outspoken detractors. Except for one...The Queen.The Queen is the most universally respected and admired film of the bunch. And is probably the only one that everyone can agree on. Which makes it a major threat to stage an upset and win the Oscar. Picture, Actress, Screenplay, Score...it could pull it off. It would probably be the sole scenario where everyone ends up satisfied about the winners.

The Queen is indeed one of the year's best. And I wouldn't object one bit to seeing it take home the gold. And I doubt anyone else would either.

I want to know why we are not seeing a bigger push for the official Hong Kong Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film, FengXiaogang'sThe Banquet. I just saw it this evening, and it is quite simply a masterpiece. It's Hamlet set in China, and is the best wuxia film since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, easily besting China's official entry, Curse of the Golden Flower, and even topping other recent wuxia films Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

ZhangZiyi is luminous as the scheming Empress of China, who is plotting to murder her new husband, who has just murdered his brother and usurped the throne, while his exiled nephew sets out to avenge his dead father.

The reason we aren't seeing any FYC ads is doubtless because it has not been released in the United States, and doesn't have a U.S. distributer as of this writing. Which is a grave injustice. This is a jaw-dropping, breathtaking film, with lyrical, YuenWo Ping choreographed fight sequences that take on the beauty of a bloody ballet, and features some of the most stunningly beautiful shots and set pieces in recent memory . But since it was submitted for consideration this year without having been released theatrically in 2006, that has screwed it over for other awards consideration next year. Which means the sumptuous production design and gorgeous costumes will never be eligible for consideration. ZhangYimou'sHero was similarly shortchanged.

That brings up a huge problem with Academy rules for foreign language films. Besides the fact that there is only one film per country allowed, if they are submitted without a theatrical release they are not eligible for any other award.

Which is sad, because I have no doubt that if and when The Banquet is released here, it will e counted among the very best films of the year.

We need to make some noise and get this film noticed so it will recieve the release it deserves. Studio heads take notice. This is an amazing film.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

The chances of this movie actually being any good are pretty slim, although I am a huge Lecter fan. But with Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring) at the helm, we may be in for some more twisted elegance that the series demands. And Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement) seems to be eerily channeling Anthony Hopkins' immortal performance...a few of his lines are so Hopkins-esque they gave me chills ("Now tell me inspector...you lost family in the war? Did you catch who did it? Then we are both suspects...").

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Advertised as yet another wuxia martial arts fantasy by Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), Curse of the Golden Flower is really just a soap opera with gorgeous sets and costumes. It tells the story of the Emperor and Empress of China, who really hate each other and want the other one dead, enough to command armies against one another.

Darker than Zhang's previous wuxia films, filled with intrigue and emotional layers, but ultimately unsatisfying as it descends into soap opera territory near the end. And while the sets and costumes are stunning, they are so impressive that they completely overwhelm the film, swallowing it up in a colorful swirl of gold plates and silk brocade.

Friday, January 12, 2007

Nominations are for achievement in film editing.DramaBabelCasino RoyaleThe DepartedThe QueenUnited 93Comedy/DramaThe Devil Wears PradaDreamgirlsLittle Miss SunshinePirates of the CaribbeanThank You for Smoking Thanks to Sascha Stone at Oscarwatch for providing the info.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The first one was actually a pretty good horror movie, until director Alexandre Aja went all vigilante on us in the last quarter. The teaser trailer for the sequel, however, is one of the most coldly effective and innovative trailers I've seen in a while. I hope the movie can live up to it. Check it out!